Planning for 2016 TimeTrial Season

Although it only just seems like this years events have just finished but this is the time to start planning for your race season next year.

The majority of cycle plans take around 7-8 months to build through the Base, Build and Peak phases so around this time is ideal to start.

Follow me along the way as I embark on setting out my training plan for next years TT season. After a successful Ironman result this year I have decided to go back to my favourite discipline, Time Trialling and planning to set some PB’s along the way.

I will be posting my training plan, sessions and races giving tips and advice along the way which you are welcome to follow. No matter what your event, this plan will still be useful in the early base and build period as its not until later in the plan that you need to tailor this to suit your individual needs.

Well its early November and I am currently embarking on my base fitness plan to set the foundations. First things first is to set my power and HR zones by doing an FTP test.

These are my zones that I will be following for the first phase so make sure you have your own zones before you start. If you are unsure of your zones and need a bit of help come and see me at Ride Harder.

Below is the power profile chart that I have highlighted my efforts on. This uses power to weight ratio at various power outputs so gives you an unbiased figure of your cycling ability. This is a great guide to show you your current level of fitness and also a useful tool to track you progress.

Its a good idea to set up a training plan ready for the following year so you have it listed at a glance. For me I don’t have any specific races to factor in although I have timed it to peak around the middle of the TT season (June time). All the training blocks are changeable to a certain degree and can me moved if needed to fit in around family commitments or races that you may enter but its just good to have an idea of what/when you should be doing it.

This first base phase is all about building aerobic endurance which will be required for all cycling disciplines and even more important for endurance athletes. I will be doing around 4-6 weeks of base and will be monitoring my fitness using and efficiency factor before I move to the next phase. More on this later.

The training sessions I will be doing throughout this phase will be done predominately in zone 2 however occasionally this intensity will increase slightly for short intervals. Some of the myths around base training that state if you breached zone 2 at any point during this phase then you will loose all the benefit you have made have been disproved.

I will be aiming for 3-4 sessions a week with a combination of turbo and road riding. I will be riding on the turbo for around 60-80 mins at a constant level so that my HR is a couple of beats below zone 2. Concentrating on my pedalling technique along with a few higher cadence efforts. The longer road rides will be around 90mins initial building to around 180mins and I also plan to commute to work to really increase volume while the intensity is low. This type of traditional base really works well with a large volume so am aiming for between 8-10 hours per week

To compliment this training on the bike I am also entering into a strength programme off the bike to improve my stability and core strength. I will include more about this as we go forward.

My stats (Nov 15)

14st 3lb (90.26kg)

24.2% fat

If you like this post and find it useful then please “like” and share. Also if you have anything you would like me to cover going forward then get in touch.

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